Should students be allowed to carry cell phones with them?
'Should students be allowed to carry cell phones with them? - 11/22/2007 (https://www.debate.org/debates/Should-students-be-allowed-to-carry-cell-phones-with-them/1/)' Instigator: gonovice (Pro) Contender: smileymia24 (Con) Round 1 gonovice: "In todays age I think that it is greatly uncommon to meet a kid my age (14) who doesnt have a cell phone. There are a couple people but they dont want one either. Um... I think that carrying it isn't a problem and even texting isnt bad. If the teacher is suspicous they could make a rule like if you bring your phone to class and you text your teacher reserves the right to read it. That way they could make sure that no one is cheating. I just think that soon the only way of staying in touch with people will be through texting so why not allow it in schools." smileymia24: "I don't think we should be aloud have cell phones out in class and such. I have a cell phone, and yes I bring it to school, but texting during class is not neccasary. Having the phone at school maybe for safety reasons or whatever is fine, but you go to school to learn, and yes, when you can, to talk to friends, but not for going to school to text, you can always just do that at home." Round 2 gonovice: "What if your trying to figure out what time your getting picked up? You should be able to text your parents shouldnt you? I like carrying my phone with me its sort of a saftey thing. I also like texting and I do it at home but it would be great to be able to do it at school as well. I dont see texting in class as a problem. Teachers could make up their own rules about the issue. Like, no texting in class during a test or something along those lines. I just see it as if you have a phone why not use it. If it becomes that big of a distration in class then just that student could lose their priveliges." smileymia24: "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be able to have phones at school, im just saying not out during class. i mean thats ridiculous. yes, if you have to ask your parents a question, then text or call them between periods. its not neccasary to do so during class when your supposed to be learning. and yes, although texting may be fun, and you like to do it, along with millions of other people, school is meant for learning, so texting should be able to wait until class is over. im sure at one point anyways, either the school itself, or maybe just a teacher, will have rules about phones during class, and thats up to them." Round 3 gonovice: "Think about it if it is allowed to carry a phone they wont get in trouble. I can text and pay attention same with a lot of kids. I cant tell you how many kids text in class. In my school you arent allowed to carry it from 7:53 to 2:50 and I still carry mine but it is a waste to have a phone if you dont use it. Most kids love to text and why not let them rather then have them sneak around in class. Kids still do it whether their allowed to or not. It would just be easier to let it be okay." smileymia24: "Yes it may be easier to do so, but then it would get way out of control. to get anywhere in life nowadays you have to have a good education and etc etc yea we've all heard it a million times. many adults fear that actually allowing kids to text without making a rule against it will prevent them from continuing to learn, and getting that good education they need. now those of the people that do text during class, and get away with it, lol thats great for them. its forbidden in my school to have cell phones out during class, and some of us rarely do, just because we don't see a point. also because our teachers walking up and down next to our desks also makes it harder to text and get away with it. but its not so hard to not just text for a few hours. i think if you just tried it, then not texting during class wouldn't be so bad. i know its hard to see somebody else's point of few over a few paragraphs, but i think if you truly thought about, and considered what it would be like if everybody just texted all day in class, what would happen to the kids. how smart they 'would not' become, how hard it would be for teachers to teach, and just how out of control everything would become." Round 4 gonovice: "I understand what you're saying. I get it, but in my school half of us in the class already have learned it all. My classes are too easy for me. It's the same with many of my friends and we have A's, so why cant we be allowed to text. Also, in my school and even in the area of michigan that i live in we arent taught by teachers. we watch movies and read books in class. my algebra class is the only one that i actually am taught in. So i'm sitting there along with my classmates getting everything that i'm being taught and i'm wanting to text. why cant i? whats so wrong with me and my friends who DO get it doing it? Maybe kids should have to earn the priviledge. i dont think that you understand that this could be earned by students and it can be taken away. if their grades arent good then yea i agree with you, they shouldnt be texting or paying attention to their phone when their gradess are slipping. I just think that for the kids who do get it and have really good grades why dont we deserce to be allowed to occasionally text" smileymia24: smileymia24 forfeited this round.